According to reports, the first human case of avian flu has been reported in Canada

 According to reports, the first human case of avian flu has been reported in Canada

Avian flu human case confirmed in British Columbia, Canada. To date, this has been the first human case of avian flu in Canada that had been confirmed. Reports state that the person identified with the H5 strain is under care in a children's hospital.  The origin is probably animal contact as health officials are still investigating the case. 

According to Dr Bonnie Henry, the province's Health Officer, the case was rare. She assured people that the efforts to understand and handle the risk were ongoing. It is a virus that mainly transmits through birds, though it has occasionally shown up in humans after direct contact with the infected animals or the contaminated environment. Although this avian flu virus constitutes part of a waterfowl and poultry reservoir, it poses a small threat in and of itself; however, when the disease is transmitted into mammalian hosts, a mutation may potentially facilitate human-to-human transmission. This is an isolated case, yet, to date, no such transmissions appear to have occurred. The growing avian flu cases among mammals worldwide are keeping health professionals on high alert.